From the shadows, a unique-looking, slightly taller Skink came forward.

Unlike the rest, this one had much larger, oversized yellowish eyes, at the top of his head, a crest of large, beautiful deep red feathers draped down. Whilst not exactly similar, it vaguely resembled a mohawk.

The creature was slightly taller than its brethren, its wrinkled skin was initially dark, which as soon as it stepped into the light, changed its color matching the dark brown, muddy gradient of its surroundings.

He was holding onto a cane, that was more of a short snapped gnarled branch of a tree than a proper walking aid. Despite its height, his physique wasn't as developed as his kin, he seemed much more fragile, much weaker than the little devils around it.

As he slowly trudged forward, using his stick, he was also actively leaning against his much thicker tail which was curled up behind his back and was like a makeshift chair, or back stand to support his back.

Despite his aged, frail presence, the rest of the skin horde was clearly reverent and respectful towards this elder. Although the pressure kept them plastered on the ground, for the first time, they battled, fought against it, to raise their gazes and be able to steal a glance at this peculiar figure.

Under the shocked and bewildered gazes of the human group, the feathered elder slowly sauntered towards the glowing-eyed dominant entity in their midst. His expression, his demeanor, his presence showed no fear and no hostility. On the contrary, as his jawline curled up, he donned a thin smile on his face, the team felt admiration and pure happiness from him.

Seconds slowly turned into a full minute before the elderly lizard man finally stopped in its tracks only a meter of a distance away from Aiden. For the next few seconds, both figures gazed at each other. Without showing any fear and falter they matched each other's gazes. The elderly lizard kept his calm, composed happy outlook whilst Aiden showed the same, similar dominant, slight arrogance on his face.

The pressure of his aura, although eased up slightly, so the small creatures wouldn't be crushed to their deaths and pressured into meatloaves, still kept them lying on the ground. At the very least they could not raise their heads and look at their elder as the silent, but the tense battle of mental fortitude continued on.

Eventually, after around a minute the elderly lizard acquiesced and lowered his gaze to the ground. Soon after, to the shock of every eye present, be it humans or lizardfolk, the elder bent his knees, and whilst keeping his best to rely on his short stick so as to not fall down completely, he knelt in front of Aiden.

His jaw opening, a hissing sound came from his gargled throat, before the creature gave a light cough and to yet another round of shock to Aiden and the gang it spoke using the common tongue.

"Wessss greetssh youssh oh Inheritorsssh of the Ancient Onessh!"

Even though it was quite rough, it was still manageable, they could roughly understand what he was saying.

Raising his eyebrow, Aiden looked at him with rising interest. This strange figure has actually grown intelligent enough to understand and even reciprocate human speech. No matter how you looked at it, this was not just simply surprising, it was a groundbreaking feat!

These skinks were considered monsters by almost everyone in the world. They were known for their slightly higher intelligence that made them capable to act out specific roles whilst in a group and hunt with great success rates, and also live in what was at most referred to as a primitive tribe, or gathering.

Still, from the small interaction, Aiden and the rest had with these creatures, they were nothing like what the news had told them. In fact, Drake was the most shocked of them all, as he had been down in these sewers once, and even culled a few dozen of them before returning to the guild and cashing in his just rewards.

At that time, he hadn't given any thought, his clash with them was like what he expected: they were savage, almost feral as they lounged their frail bodies against his blade without worry or hesitation.

There was no sign of such deep thinking, such emotions, such reactions at that time.

So what changed? Drake couldn't understand what was going on, all that was happening was way beyond his expectations.

Similar to him, Scarlet who held greater knowledge than the others was just as baffled and confused as his brother. Although she spent the latter parts of her childhood as a slave forced to fight to survive, she was still taught the basics of the world back in her 'palace years'.

Unlike them, a growing smile could be witnessed on Lily's and even Galina's expressions as they looked at the elderly lizardman and Aiden.

"Who and more importantly what exactly are you? Also, what is this Ancient One you are speaking about?" After a few brief moments of silence, Aiden finally responded to the elderly skink's respectful greeting.

Hearing their revered ancestor's descendant respond to him, the elderly lizard's face twisted into a hideous-looking grin. Keeping her gaze plastered on the stone pathway, he hurriedly answered.

"Anssswering thisssh Lord'sssh quesshtion, thisssh lowly onesssh is called Thuk. I am this tribessh leader."

"I see." Aiden nodded at his response. "So, what are you? Are you some sort of variant? Also, what is this all about? Why did you attack then bow your heads?"

Thuk, the leader of the skinks, visibly shuddered as Aiden fired his questions against him. At first, he couldn't even answer as he battled the trembling of his meager body. Still, a few brief moments later, he fixed his trembling, and with a hissing sigh, he began to respond, albeit with a slightly meeker tone of voice.

"I… Apologissshe for the great dissshrespect we have shown you, oh great lord Pleasssshe… be magnanimoussh, and find kindnessh in your heart to let my kith go. I promisshe to train them better in the future!"

The elderly skink begged for forgiveness, not minding his shameful display or loss of face. Such things meant nothing to him, the only thing that mattered was the survival of his race. Being considered nothing more than useless trash, a stain on the world… fated to being hunted and killed, he desperately wished, begged the skies for a chance for a better future… for their survival before it was too late.

Nowadays, reduced to hiding in the slimy underground sewer systems of the human cities, they were at their breath's end.

They were forced to hide and lurk in the shadows and slowly, steadily increase their numbers whilst making sure to be aware of any potential threat that came their way. Although his kin wasn't as bright, Thuk has survived many disasters, and great ordeals through his more than 3 decades of a lifetime to know the usual strategy of this arrogant, self-centered race. He knew that their days were numbered, as sooner or later the humans would dispatch something Thuk called the Firebringers…

Knowing that the time for that should be upon them soon, he was agitated, so when the scouts noticed a group of strange-looking humans and beasts enter, he made the call and sent out a larger, than normal squad to ambush them.

What he didn't expect, that this action of his, would be finally the answer to his hopeless prayers and would forever change the course of their destiny…